DREAM WIN Johnson Ropes Inaugural Breakaway Title at RodeoHouston By Ted Harbin, Photos by Impulse Photography (Mallory Beinborn) E rin Johnson was just excited to be in the field for the inaugural breakaway roping at RodeoHouston. Winning it just made the experience the greatest of her 15- year WPRA career. With it, she pocketed $53,750 and opened
the door for many opportunities to come in 2022. “This is my biggest payday ever, and the money is phenomenal,” she said, noting that $28,750 counts toward the WPRA Breakaway Roping World Standings – half of the shootout round and everything else she pocketed in the other rounds. “I’m grateful and ecstatic to have this kind of start to the year and that kind of money to put in the bank to rodeo on and help pay for things.” She’s been around enough to realize she is involved in something special with the financial gains women can make in breakaway roping these days. Much has changed over the last few years in order to make that happen, but she’s still pretty handy with a rope. In fact, the first year she won the WPRA breakaway roping world title in 2011, she pocketed just $16,750 for the season. A year later, she repeated with less than $1,000 more. “I can’t even believe the money that’s available,” said Johnson of Fowler, Colorado. “I never dreamt in a million years that I’d win that much money breakaway roping. It is phenomenal. It just blows my mind.
Erin Johnson never dreamed she would win over $50,000 at one rodeo breakaway roping but she experienced that in 2022 at RodeoHouston. Houston added the event for the first time and every breakaway roper that got to experience competing there for the first time was just in awe.
12 WPRA NEWS APRIL 2022 DECEMBER 2021 WOMEN’S PRO RODEO NEWS APRIL 2022
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